Hello, readers around the world. Wherever you are, I hope that your day turns out well and peaceful. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter and I hope you enjoy reading it.
Chapter 11: Who am I? What are you? Part I
Stefan Salvatore stood in front of the mirror fixing his hair. He heard his older brother, Damon, in the shower singing Bon Jovi's "It's My Life" complete with air guitar riffs. Damon called to Stefan "How's the super hero hair going, little brother?"
Stefan looked in the mirror, again. "It's great," he responded, flipping his brother off. 'Maybe I should get highlights. I hear Brad Pitt does,' he thought to himself.
Damon got out of the shower, looking at his brother, who was now fingering the ends of his hair. He shook his head. "Don't do it, Stef. Women prefer men with natural hair." He put an arm around Stefan's shoulders. Damon ran a hand through his own hair, not bothering with a brush. Stefan pushed Damon's arm off. "Can you please not touch me when you're naked?" Stefan grabbed a towel and threw it at his brother.
Stefan walked back to his room looking for one of his work shirts. Damon appeared in the doorway. Stefan began to turn around, "Damon, have you seen my work shirt. I thought I laid it o- Gah. Please put something on, already."
"Oh Stef, get over it. It's not like you haven't seen me like this before. I am your brother after all." To Stefan's dismay Damon came further into the room and laid down on Stefan's bed. He crossed his legs exposing a lot more than Stefan wanted to see ever, let alone at 6:30 in the morning. Damon reached behind him and began to read Stefan's diary. "Dear diary, I met a really cute girl today. I wanted to take her home and have the joy that is called sex with her and then drink her blood. But diary, alas I am celibate. So, I ran off into the woods and ate Bambi's mother. Then I felt guilty and sulked until my brother kicked my ass, again."
Stefan wanted his diary back but he was not about to wrestle a naked Damon to get it back. Stefan found another shirt and it threw over the parts of Damon he had had enough of being exposed to this morning.
Stefan finally found the gray shirt with the little vampire face on it and pulled it on and buttoned up. He shoved the tail into his black trousers. This was his shift opening with Klaus and Elena. He did not want to be late. "Bye, Damon. Try not to hurt too many people while I'm at work. And stay out of my room."
Damon leapt off the bed and was standing in front of Stefan in an instant, minus the shirt. "Are you off to work? Don't forget the lunch I packed for you." Damon disappeared into his own room. Stefan ran down the stairs and sure enough there was a bag waiting for him with a little note.
Dear Stefy,
I hope you have as delightful a day as I did yesterday.
Your Big Brother,
Damon
P.S.
I'm your ride. I will be down about….Now.
Damon ran down the stairs and Stefan groaned. "I do not need a ride. This is work I'm going to, not my first day of kindergarten."
Damon grinned, grabbing and twisting the door knob. "I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing this for E-len-a." Stefan was happy that Damon was happy because his older brother had stopped killing so many people. And Damon, for all his craziness, was beginning to show some humanity. Although, Stefan liked Elena, seeing his brother changing was more important to him at the moment.
They walked out to Damon's car. After arguing about the music and whether or not Damon was driving too fast they arrived at the Gilbert residence. They both got out of the car and Jenna answered the door. "Elena," she called up the stairs, "Damon and Stefan are here." Elena appeared at the top of the stairs. She was wearing a button down purple blouse with the 'Amp logo on it. A pair of super tight black pants. On her feet were a pair of five inch black heels. She sauntered down the stairs with a smirk on her face.
Damon's jaw had dropped as he looked at her red painted lips and at the amount of eyeliner she was wearing. Stefan was staring at the long flowing curls. When Elena walked out past them and then turned around jutting one hip to the side, the brothers traded a look. This was not Elena. They didn't say anything. They simply waved at Jenna. It wasn't until they got to the car and that Damon tossed his keys to Stefan and got in the back with "Elena," Damon lost his patience. When they were far enough away from her home Damon grabbed Elena by the throat. He had her pinned beneath him in seconds. "What have you done with Elena?"
It was not until the woman beneath him began to cough and sputter did he realize he was holding a human. This disturbed him more. If this woman looked like and acted like Katherine but was, in fact, human, what did that mean? He was deeply confused. "Who are you?"
The Katherine look alike said, "I am Elena Gilbert."
Damon looked at her, attempting to see if she was lying. Giving up he decided to compel her. "Who are you?"
"I am Katherine Pierce but I was Elena Gilbert. Or at least I thought I was." Elena shook her head, she was confused as Damon was.
"What does that even mean?" Damon raked a hand through his hair. He looked at Stefan, who shook his head. He didn't have any answers either.
Elena began to giggle suddenly, "Gotcha," she said.
Damon and Stefan were beginning to worry about the mental health of the person, whoever it was, in the car with them. "Look guys, Kol was telling me about your ex-girlfriend and I just wanted to play a joke on you. I'm sorry. I guess I thought it would be funnier. Anyway, we need to get to work. We don't want to deal with Klaus in a bad mood, do we?" Elena began to laugh again.
Damon relaxed, accepting her answer. Elena patted Stefan's shoulder. She left her hand there a little too long and Stefan wondered how long Elena's "little joke" was going to continue.
After Elena, Stefan and Damon got out of the car, Elena made a point of kissing Damon before they went in. Damon was surprised but happy. He had to unwrap her arms and tell her to have good day at work. "You might want to calm down your Katherine impersonation with Klaus. Okay?" Damon warned Elena as she grinned up at him and nodded.
The minute Damon left Elena turned around on her heel and rolled her eyes. She strode toward the back door. Stefan could swear he heard her say under her breath, "I thought he would never leave." She pushed the doorbell and then began to tap her foot impatiently. After a minute of waiting she reached out to push the bell again, when the door swung open.
Mr. Brown, who neither Stefan nor Elena knew, held the door for them to enter. They cautiously stepped inside. When Stefan saw Klaus sitting in the office, his head cradled in his hands, he figured that Mr. Brown must be another part of the crew. He put out his hand, "Hello, I'm Stefan," he greeted the man.
Mr. Brown took his hand. "I'm Andrew but I guess you can call me Mr. Brown. That's what the rest of the kids have been calling me." This was the most Mr. Brown had said to anyone so far.
Stefan looked up at the larger man. "What would you prefer to be called?"
Mr. Brown smiled at Stefan. It had been a very long time since anyone had asked him what he thought about much of anything. "You can call me, Andy."
"Well," Stefan stuffed his hands in his pockets and rocked on his feet. "It's nice to meet you Andy."
Elena excused herself saying that she needed to talk to Klaus about something. She walked into the office. "Hello Klaus," she said.
Klaus looked up and grimaced. "Hello Elena, I have you making salads this morning. If you need help it appears that Mr. Brown has some experience in this line of work." He turned his head to stare at a wall. Right now, he did not need to be reminded of another failing.
Instead of leaving, Elena strode over to Klaus. When she was right in front of him he had little time to react before she climbed on the chair with him. She moved so that she was straddling Klaus. "I can make you feel a lot better," she whispered into his ear. He looked at her like she had lost her mind. She leaned forward and kissed him on the lips and then began running her hands through his hair. One of her hands went down his back. He felt it slide to the bottom of his Henley and then it was making its way under the fabric sliding up his bare skin.
Klaus was still drunk and he thinking about whether this was hallucination brought on by far, far too much tequila. 'Yes,' he thought, 'I am asleep and this is not the doppelgänger in my lap. This is not the girl that I plan on draining sometime this summer…' Elena had now parted her lips and Klaus could feel her warm breath tickling his lips. His lips curled up involuntarily. He remembered this. Suddenly, he was standing in a meadow a thousand years ago and he had Tatia in his arms. Elena was pushing his jacket off and he was letting her. He felt her tugging at his Henley and then that was slipping over his head as he closed his eyes. He was pulling her closer, kissing her gently, moving from her lips to her neck, downward. She was stroking his hair while he unbuttoned her blouse and began to kiss and stroke the exposed flesh.
Klaus pulled back. He wanted to look into Tatia's eyes. It had been so long. He missed her. He would admit that for a thousand years he had wanted to be able to kiss her one last time. This is why he was afraid of Caroline. He was afraid of losing this girl the way he had lost Tatia. That he would not be able to protect her from the evil in the world. It was not just creatures like Klaus who did horrible things. It was people like his mother, who had taken Tatia from him. But now he had her back, even if just for moment. When he drew back he looked deeply into the eyes of the girl, who was sitting in his lap.
There was a knock at the door and Stefan Salvatore was standing there. Stefan had no idea what he just walked in on. But one thing was for sure, he was happy that it was him and not Damon. Klaus jumped to his feet, scowling. Elena fell on the floor, bumping her head. "Ow," she began to rub at the back of her head as Stefan came over to help her sit up and check that she wasn't hurt too badly.
Klaus turned around. His face was impassive. He looked at Stefan, his voice low. "I would suggest that you keep her away from me for the rest of the day."
Elena tried to get to her feet and run after him but Stefan held her in place. "I really think that would be a bad idea," he warned her.
Elena sat back down with a pout. "And we were just getting to the good part." She sat for a minute before a smile spread across her face and she pushed the door shut with her foot. Elena threw herself on Stefan, jerking her shirt off. Stefan was too shocked to stop her. "Oh Stefan, I missed you." Stefan thought that maybe he was in some alternative universe in which Elena was crazy. He grabbed her by the shoulders. "Elena, you do not want to do this."
"Yes, I do," she said.
Elena's hand were making short work of taking his belt off and then unzipping his pants. Her head began to descend when Stefan snapped out of it. "Elena, stop it," Stefan snapped. He grabbed her by the hair pulling her head back. His eyes had darkened and his fangs were out. The Ripper wanted to sink his teeth into her exposed neck. However, Stefan would not allow that to happen.
Stefan let go of Elena's hair and leaned back, making space between them. Elena was laughing at him. She picked up her shirt and buttoned it up. She then walked out of the office like nothing had happened. Stefan began to rub his head. This was bad. This was really, really bad. Stefan was looking forward to when Elijah was due to come in at 11 am. Hopefully, he could help.
When Elijah arrived he noticed that the mood between everyone was hostile. He noticed Miss Gilbert, was in the back window and that someone had apparently installed a door with a padlock on it. Even the seemingly unflappable Mr. Brown seemed to be uncomfortable when Elena appeared in the window of her door and waved at Mr. Brown. The gentleman in question averted his gaze and began to move the hamburgers on the grill around.
When Elena saw Elijah she began to wave at him with both hands, jumping up and down. He strode over to the door. Having no idea why someone had installed a door. "Ms. Gilbert why are you behind a door?" Elijah asked. He raised an eyebrow looking at the padlock.
Elena looked up at him with doe eyes. "I don't know. But the key is in the office. Klaus put it in the safe. Can you please let me out?" She pressed herself against the door.
"Alright," Elijah shook his head. He should have known that he could not leave his brother alone with this girl. Leave it to Klaus to lock her up. He found the key and walked back to the door. Elena was now talking to Matt Donavon, who had just arrived for his shift.
Elena was winking at Matt, unbuttoning her shirt and licking her lower lip. Elijah never could understand the mating rituals of teenagers today. Elena's attention refocused when she saw the key. She began to wave for Elijah to move faster. When he inserted the key he suddenly heard three men shout, "No," at the same time.
Elijah looked around at Klaus, Stefan and Mr. Brown. Brown was the first to speak, "Boss, you really do not want to let that woman out of there."
Just when Elijah was about to ask why not, he felt a hand on his arm. "Elijah, I need your help with something in the freezer." He turned around to see Caroline Forbes staring at him, with a playful smile on her face.
Elijah thought about it. "Alright," he turned to Elena. "Elena, I will be right back." Elena slumped back, pouting. Caroline looked in the window and waved happily at her friend before walking into the walk-in. Elena suddenly saw Klaus through the window and began to pound on the door. "Klaus. Klaus, let me out. I love you. Why don't you believe me? Let me prove it you." She screamed hitting and kicking the door. Klaus ran into the office and slammed the door shut.
Caroline was standing in the doorway of the walk-in. "Eli-jah," she called, batting her eyelashes at him. If Elijah was not sure that it was impossible, he would swear that the girl was flirting with him. He followed her in. They went into the freezer. He opened his mouth to ask what she wanted help with when the girl placed her hands on his shoulders and leapt up. She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist and began to kiss him passionately.
While Elijah had to admit she was a good kisser, he knew that this was inappropriate behavior. He was not Kol, after all. He untangled her arms and set her on her feet. "Caroline, we cannot do this," he began and stopped when he saw the girl's eyes begin to glaze over with tears.
"You don't want me. Why don't you want me?" she was whimpering and was on the verge of sobbing. "I can do better. I'll, I'll iron your shirts. Yes, I can do that. I'll iron my own, too. And I'll starch them and press them. I'll improve my posture. I'll read the books that you like and go to all the boring stuffy things that you want to go to. I will be your perfect girlfriend. Because that is what I do. And then you'll want me, right?"
There were tears running down Caroline's face now and Elijah did not know what to do. He took the girl in his arms and rubbed her back. He never knew quite what to do when Rebekah behaved this way either but he tried. Fortunately, Rebekah never did what Caroline did right at that moment. She grabbed Elijah by the neck and pulled him to the floor with her. Rolling them over so that she was on top she began to kiss him again.
This girl did not take no for an answer. Elijah pushed them into a sitting position. "Caroline," he said, firmly as she ran her hands up and down his torso. That was, in fact, rather pleasant but that was not the point. "Caroline,' he tried again as she ran the tip of her tongue along the side of his neck and up to his earlobe. She captured it between her teeth and began to gently pull. "Oh, Caroline, oh, no." He picked her up and placed her two feet away from him.
"Caroline," he said, his voice low. "We cannot do this."
Caroline was crawling back to him on her knees, a grin on her face. "Yes, we can. I know you want to just as much as I do. I could feel that," she giggled and looked pointedly at his trousers. She climbed on top of him again. "I love you, Elijah," She whispered staring into his eyes. She grabbed his face in an attempt to kiss him again.
"Caroline," Elijah bellowed, finally having lost all of his patience. The door to the freezer was flung open and Klaus was standing there with Stefan behind him. In the next minute Caroline was in Stefan's arms and Klaus had his hand in Elijah's chest, his face a mask of rage.
"No," Caroline screamed. "Don't hurt him Klaus. Please, don't hurt him. I'll do anything." She jerked out of Stefan's arms and flung herself at Klaus' feet. "Please," she begged, sobbing. "I'll let you sacrifice me. I won't fight you. Just don't hurt Elijah. I love him. Please."
Klaus looked at the girl, shivering on the floor of the freezer, begging him to spare the life of his brother. He pulled his hand out of Elijah's chest and got down on his own knees. His own eyes were filled with tears. His heart was breaking. He gathered Caroline into his arms. "I won't," he said stroking her back. He pulled back and looked at her. "Why would I sacrifice you?"
"I'm the doppelgänger. Aren't I?" Klaus was holding her face in his hands, Elijah's blood smearing onto her left cheek.
"No, no, you are not. Why would you think such a thing?" Klaus' voice was gentle as he looked at Caroline, who was still shivering. He pulled her closer so that she was kneeling on top of his bent legs. It was a good thing he was a vampire; otherwise this would be painful but he did not want her to be cold and he began to stroke her back.
Caroline shook her head, "I don't know. I just remember that I found out yesterday and that was when I found out that I was in love with Elijah." She smiled at Elijah.
Klaus gathered her up and began to carry her out of the freezer. "We will fix this," he said into her hair. He carried her into the office and began to try to compel her. It wasn't working. He was becoming angrier by the minute. Caroline curled up in the chair, shrinking away from him.
Klaus stopped pacing and turned to her. "It's not you, love. I just want to fix this." It was then that he thought of a solution. "Elijah, Stefan, could you come here for a moment."
Elijah came in. He had changed his bloody shirt but was still angry about Klaus trying to kill him. "Stefan, I need you to go pick up a witch for me." Klaus turned to his brother. "I came up with a solution for our little problem." He smirked at Elijah's look of apprehension.
"And what would that be," Elijah responded.
Klaus smiled, "It's simple, really. We're going to switch bodies until we can fix the girls here." Elijah simply blinked at his brother. 'This is just too much. Why did I ever think working with my family was a good idea?' he thought.
Thank you to my lovely reviewers. Kevin H 1997 I am happy that you enjoyed the ghost scene in chapter ten. imdrowninfootwear I agree with you. Ghost Mikael was harsh. My reasoning was that Mikael was a mean SoB in life, so, I figure that he still would be, although I was also heightening Esther, Mikael and Emily's behavior just to poke fun at three rather serious characters. Finally, to my guest reviewer. I am happy that you are enjoying this story. As to the updating more often request. I plan to begin updating every Monday, Thursday and Saturday. Hopefully, I can write most of the sequel before I return to my Master's program at the end of August. What I can tell you is that I am beginning to form ideas for an afterlife that would cause the story to continue after the sequel.
Review and let me know what you think is going to happen with the body switching spell. Here's a hint. It's not going to go the way that Klaus had intended. So, things are going to become more than a little chaotic. Secrets will be revealed, love will blossom and as always anything can happen. Please, review, favorite, follow and/or vote for the sequel, The Last Resort.
